World Adama Barrow: 7 Things You Should About Know About The Security Guard Turned Gambian President

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Adama Barrow is the President, currently in-exile of The Gambia, having won the presidential election of 2016. He is a member of the United Democratic Party .

Adama Barrow, a successful property developer who has never held public office, will Thursday (today) be sworn in as the Gambian President to make a third republic in the tiny West African nation.

His victory in the presidential poll is arguably bigger shock than that of fellow property mogul in the US, Donald Trump.

Here are seven things Nigerian Bulletin compiled about the Fulani man:

1. Adama Barrow was born in 1965, the same year his country gained independence from British colonial rule, in a small village near the market town of Basse in the east of the country.

2. He first attended the local Koba Kunda Primary School and then Crab Island Secondary School in Banjul before receiving a scholarship for Muslim High School. After graduation, he worked for Alhagie Musa & Sons and rose through the ranks until he became sales manager.

3. He lived in the UK for several years, where he reportedly worked as a security guard at the Argos catalogue store in north London, while studying for his real estate qualifications.

- British media reported that while guarding the shop on Holloway Road, he made a citizen's arrest on a shoplifter, which resulted in a six-month jail term. It was also during that period that Mr Barrow chose to support Arsenal FC, at that time his local club.

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4. Barrow returned to the Gambia following his graduation. In 2006 he established Majum Real Estate and has since been Chief Executive Officer of the company.

5. In 2016 Barrow was chosen by a coalition of seven opposition parties as their endorsed candidate for the 2016 Gambian presidential election.

6. A devout Muslim who is reportedly married with two wives and five children.

7. He once described Yahya Jammeh as a "soulless dictator" and promised to undo some of his controversial moves.
 
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